Western Falkland Islands

Finally we can see land again but can we actually land? A strong wind from west made it uncertain but finally the captain gave us permission and the crew started to unload the zodiacs. Meanwhile we started to change clothes but what to wear? Around 6 degrees, strong wind and high waves made it difficult to decide but now, afterwards I can tell that three layers was to much. Even if I did the mistake to forget to close the ventilation zipper on my waterproof pants, well waterproof as long as you close all the zippers. The first wave rolled in over me and splashed my groin with pure, cold water. No, it was not warm and no, it was not a nice surprise!

Once we got on shore I was greeted by a much greener island than what I was expecting. We landed on Leopard beach at Carcass island in the northwestern part of Falkland Island. The island has some residents but judging of how happy they were to see me they cant be many and I think I walked around six km to meet them. A hike with only birds, more birds and some lost gentoo penguins at my side. It was however really nice to get off the ship and to just stroll around for a bit even if the wind grow for every minute and when it was time to head back to the ship the wind was over 50 knots (25 m/s).

Our crew really had to work hard to get us all aboard safe and I’m actually impressed that they succeeded, unfortunately the wind made it impossible for us to land on West Point Island as planned but its hard to control the weather and at least I got the opportunity to move around for a while which was super nice!